(More) Dozen Indictments for Trump, and His Associates, also RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations)
(More) Dozen Indictments for Trump, and His Associates, also RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations)
Fulton County Georgia 2.54pm
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Taifa Willis is expected to seek more than a dozen indictments when she presents her case regarding efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia before a grand jury next week. Fani Taifa Willis is likely to indict not just Trump, but a number of his associates involved in attempting to overturn the election.
Other side. Twitter was fined US$350,000 for missing a deadline to comply with a search warrant for records related to Donald Trump's account, per newly unsealed opinion. DC Circuit affirmed sanction + rejected Twitter's opposition to a nondisclosure order. On Special Counsel Jack Smith's successful effort to bar Twitter from telling Donald Trump about a Jan.6 warrant for his account records in the 2020 probe, and the $350K fine the company was ordered to pay for missing a court-imposed deadline to comply.
Willis, a Democrat, has been eyeing conspiracy and racketeering charges, which would allow her to bring a case against multiple defendants. Her wide-ranging criminal probe focuses on efforts to pressure election officials, the plot to put forward fake electors and a voting systems breach in rural Coffee County, Georgia.
“It really seems like they’re coming for everyone,” says one lawyer who has repeatedly dealt with the prosecutors in this criminal probe. “Based on what I know, Willis and her team do not seem to be stopping at Donald Trump. The scope for this [likely coming indictment] is probably going to be a hell of a lot wider than that…and round up a significant number of people.”
Still, some of Trump’s own lawyers, as well as other attorneys retained by his election-denying allies, are already preparing for the very real possibility that Trump will have plenty of company in an upcoming indictment. Lawyers have already outlined legal strategies, memos, and other material that factor in their expectation that an array of these Trump subordinates will face charges alongside him, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Trump’s team is in part basing their expectation of wider charges on the subject matter of prosecutors’ witness grillings, as well as what the DA has asked for. Those inquiries include granular details of what certain Trump allies were doing in the weeks following Election Day 2020. Figures of particularly high interest have included, but aren’t limited to, the once obscure lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, John Eastman, and Rudy Giuliani. Rudy Giuliani concedes in a court filing that he made “false” statements about Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss and no longer contests the factual allegations in their defamation lawsuit.
Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute offers prosecutors broader authority to define and charge criminal conspiracies than in other states, potentially spelling trouble for Trump campaign alumni involved in the attempt to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election. Willis is reportedly weighing the use of the RICO statute in the Trump investigation, potentially giving her authority to charge others beyond Trump as participants in an alleged criminal conspiracy.
“One of the most important things under any conspiracy statute is that any statement made by any conspirator in furtherance of the conspiracy is admissible evidence against all conspirators. In other words, it’s not hearsay,” says Epner. “In this instance, every defendant could be confronted by the stupidest things that Rudy Giuliani said.”
Trump acolytes who took part in each of those schemes believe they will face charges in Georgia next week, people familiar with their thinking said. Trump also believes he will be charged in the case.
The witnesses Willis has subpoenaed when she presents her case include former Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, former Georgia Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan and independent journalist George Chidi. All of them previously testified before a special purpose grand jury that was tasked with investigating the Trump case and heard from more than 75 witnesses.
Willis launched her investigation into Trump in early 2021, soon after he called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and pressured the Republican to “find” the votes necessary for Trump to win the state.
Willis’ team has forged ahead with plans to make charging announcements in the coming weeks, even as special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with four federal counts related to his efforts to stay in power after losing the 2020 presidential election.
A large chunk of the conduct in the indictment was related to efforts to flip the election results in Georgia. Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case.
The former president’s legal team believes he is likely to face his fourth indictment in the coming days.
At a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Tuesday, Trump complained about the cases stacking up against him, adding, “I probably have another one.”
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